OUR STORY
"Our stories of people looking, finding and living their purpose starts at the top...with us."
-Â Jess
Get to know Jess & BJ now
Jess
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"When you can embrace that you have the energy that creates worlds coursing through your veins right now, you can see there is nothing out of reach."
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I have doubts and worries. I have desires, and impulses and I act on them. I’m not exempt from having thoughts of getting old, or about my appearance. I feel uncomfortable, or bothered, or annoyed. I am affected by sadness and the sharp pains of trauma.
I am not immune to exactly the same thoughts and worries and doubts that we all have.Â
But, I have learned to not let these thoughts, or my reactions to them, control me. I have learned to create a space, a gap, between the stimulus (a thought, words of others, a situation) and my response. In this gap is where I have learned to be present, this space is where we all have the free will to decide how we will move forward.Â
I've learned to relax into the sensation of life—not to fight it, but to accept it. This isn't about apathy; it's about acceptance. We can't control what happens, but we can decide how we react to it. Living in this neutral stance, where I truly believe and feel that everything coming my way is for my greatest good and growth, has allowed me to live in each moment with a sense of calm. Overwhelm and worry are never about the now.
And don’t get me wrong. It is not easy. I don’t always feel like growing or learning or being challenged on certain days. Staying present and ensuring I stay in the gap between my thoughts and my reactions is a daily practice -something I continue to learn and work on every day.
But no matter what comes my way, I know I won't lose perspective.
All it took was for me to sit down, shut my mouth, close my eyes and not move for a series of moments. Day after day, after day, after day. And it truly changed everything.
BJ
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"What you focus on expands, so be really careful where you bring your awareness"
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I am now a person who walks with less fear and doubt, and more confidence, focus and belief.Â
Belief has been a key focus of mine over the past decade, and I've dedicated myself to strengthening it.
This has lead me to be able to allow more and resist less. This does sometimes means I am challenged more, but I now have the tools necessary to navigate every step of the way with each challenge. Â
Reflecting on an example of this, my race in Lake Placid in July 2024. Between an unknown lodging status, the unexpected inability to fly my bike to the race, a ripped wetsuit the day before, there were countless opportunities that can easily derail anyone, or send someone into a spiral that you just may not be able to get out of. But because of the space I am in now, I am able to quickly shift from catastrophizing to solution energy.Â
It’s not that I don’t have doubts and fears and challenges, its that my relationship to them has changed profoundly. This has come from training my mind, relentlessly, every single day.Â
I have learned to give in to my own greatness. I know this can be a tough concept for people to accept and practice. We are programmed for this to sound like something selfish. But it is truly just the opposite. I know that if I can make myself the focus I’ll be off the front leading and showing the world that it can be done. By anyone and everyone who truly wants it and truly believes.Â
I have to keep going; I don't see myself stopping. I believe that everyone is capable of achieving their goals if they truly want it. It's a question worth asking, and I've already asked it of myself. This is what I love. I don't see myself stopping; I only see myself getting faster and stronger. And this is what I believe. Whether or not others believe it doesn't matter to me—I don't care. I believe it myself, and that's the place I want to be, because whether it happens or not, I feel good believing in its possibility. I'd rather be in that space than in the doubt and fear of what could go wrong.
